Beginnings
by Merlin07
Summary: Set after "Journey's End", the new journey is to discover what it means to be alive, in love and mostly human.
1. Chapter 1

Ever since they had been left on that beach, mere hours after his creation the Meta-Crisis caught Rose looking at him strangely.

His heart (one, just one) clenched as he saw her eyeing him like he was a museum piece or a freak of nature, which in truth, he felt he really was.

In the hotel that night, lying stiffly in one of the twin beds, he listened to Rose's breathing and wondered if she was sleeping. And if she wasn't, was it his presence in the room that was keeping her awake?

Her silent appraisals of him throughout the day when she thought he wasn't looking seemed to mark her discomfort at him being around; being The Doctor but not. How she could possibly relax enough to sleep with him so close to her?

It seemed odd to settle into a bed that wasn't gently dipping and swaying through the Time Vortex. The quiet of the room, no humming to lull him to sleep made every noise seem so much louder. He glanced over at Rose, her back turned to him and tried not to think of that as rejection, but the worry that he would never be good enough overwhelmed him and he couldn't get settled enough to follow her into dreamland.

Assuming the same position as the slumbering woman, on his side but facing her, watching her in the darkness he willed himself to breath steadily and not let the rising panic he felt overwhelm him.

It was no use, he rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Holding his hands up to this face he studied them. To be called into existence by a strange accident, as a fully grown adult, his mind crammed with another being's memories was a bizarre way to start life.

He felt raw all over, unused to this human body its ways strange to him even though this was the only body he would ever know. Placing his hand on his chest he felt the single heart beating against his palm and wondered if he would ever be comfortable in this strange form.

He shifted again, arms up over his head gripping the bedposts as he tried to stop his mind and let the peaceful oblivion of sleep wash his cares away.

He had almost succeeded through sheer might of his will when he heard Rose stirring. A brief flash of guilt hit him, had his restless movements woken her? Had he made a noise that called her from her sleep?

Trying to remain as still as possible, he closed his eyes pretending to be asleep as she half sat up to regard him silently.

He heard her chuckle softly, "if you're going to play possum, you need to let up on the death grip you have on the bed first, otherwise it's not really very convincing."

He opened his eyes, and met hers, "did I wake you?

"I wasn't really asleep," she admitted turning on the light on the bed stand.

"If my presence is keeping you awake, I can go someplace else so you can get some rest," he offered.

"You are the reason I'm not sleeping," she smiled.

He threw back the covers and started to get out of the bed, only to be suddenly joined by Rose on the narrow mattress, "scoot over," she bumped her hip against his.

He slid over, plastering himself against the wall his arms folded across his chest defensively.

"All these years," she breathed into his ear, as she threw one arm and a leg across his body, "I've wondered what it would be like to be with The Doctor," she stopped and raised herself up, "hmmm...you'll need a name of your own now. What should we call you?"

Puzzled by her trying to climb on top of him and now her quick change of subject he just stared at her. She brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes, "The Doctor, well the other one, liked 'John Smith', maybe we should call you that?"

"Works for me," he agreed, still wondering what this was all leading to.

Rose grinned, holding out her hand, "I'm Rose Tyler, John Smith, nice to meet you."

He reached up and took her hand in his shaking it briefly before letting it go.

This seemed to amuse her and she laughed heartily before growing serious once more. She shifted until she was almost laying on top of him, "if you'd prefer this bed to your own," he offered, "we could switch."

Bending her head down she got in a mere breath away from his lips, "only if you're in it," she rasped before covering his mouth with hers. 


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

Maybe it was because he had no memories implanted of Rose and The Doctor doing anything like this, or his mere hours of life so far, but it took John a bit longer than it should of to guess what she was up to.

This was seduction, he finally realised with surprise. But why him? Why now? He quickly searched in the jumble of information he had inherited for how he was expected to react to this.

There were deeply buried memories shut away and hidden. Images of unwanted kisses, of submitting to caresses from others that were not welcomed but rather endured for the sake of not hurting their feelings or out of fear of losing them.

There was nothing to prepare him for the touch of the woman he was born to love.

He knew this was supposed to be pleasurable, and something to be enjoyed but it didn't feel that way. He felt uncomfortable, uneasy and the urge to push her off and run from the room made his head pound.

Rose sensed his hesitation and let up her assault on his mouth. Propping herself up on her elbows she looked down at him, "what's wrong?" she asked, a frown on her face. She had never had any man not fall under her spell when she set about working them into a frenzy.

Scrolling through a series of replies John finally decided on the truth, "I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to be doing."

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him for a moment in silence. Just when he felt about two centimetres tall and wanted to crawl away and hide, she started to laugh, "I forgot! Now I feel kind of like a paedophile," she giggled. She rolled off of him, "I'm sorry, maybe we should just forget it."

Feeling a mixture of relief and fear that he had somehow disappointed her, John said nothing.

Then Rose reassumed her position of lying on top of him, "or you could let me teach you.." she smiled widely, her eyes shining down at him, "and with me to guide you, I think you'll be a quick learner."

This time she was more gentle, not as insistent. Wanting to awaken passion in him, not make him shrink back into the bed as he had done before.

When she kissed a trail of warm, wet kisses down his long neck and took the soft flesh where it met his shoulder into her teeth for a teasing nip she heard him take in a sharp breath and she smiled. It was working!

Pushing his red tshirt up to expose his chest she fixed her mouth on one of his nipples and he arched up with a gasp, almost unseating her. She locked her legs around his thin waist and held on tight.

Glancing down she noticed that his hands were clenching and unclenching at the sheets tangled around them, deciding those long fingers needed to be put to better use, she grabbed his wrists, and guided them to her breasts, to cup her.

Again he didn't know what she wanted of him, which she found both frustrating and if she were honest a bit thrilling, She covered his hands as much as she could with her smaller one and gently squeezed them around her.

The look of surprise as she did this made her want to giggle, but knowing that it could be misinterpreted as laughing at his inexperience she swallowed it down. Leaning back she rubbed herself against him, wincing once as her thigh hit his sharp hip bone.

Mistaking her expression of discomfort as being the result of something he was doing, John let go of her and started to apologise. She put a finger to his lips, "I just forgot how skinny you are," she replaced her mouth for her digit and thrust her tongue inside him. Try as she might, she could not ignore his initial reaction to this; he jerked back and made a slight gagging noise, but she was not going to let this stop her.

She laced her fingers in the soft hairs at the nape of his neck and held him in place. Her tongue plundered his mouth, while her other hand snaked downwards and rubbed at the not-yet-hard part of him, hoping to change this and finally get what she wanted. 


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

Her night clothes were beginning to get in her way so Rose slid off the bed and started to remove them. Even in the semi-darkness she could tell John was watching her. She started to slowly unbutton her pyjama top, letting her fingers linger suggestively. She could hear John's breath quickening as he sat up to watch and her shirt began to come open.

Now aching to have him inside her she came up behind him, shoved his shirt up around his shoulders and pulled his trousers down in the same movement. He was still not aroused, and this made her want to grind her teeth in frustration. Instead she decided to remedy that and pushing him onto his back she knelt next to him and took him into her mouth.

In Rose's experience this should have made her partner groan with passion or at the very least harden at her touch. She was not ready to be shoved off and have him hastily pull his trousers back up.

"Too much?" she asked after recovering from her surprise at his actions.

His position, knees pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped around them as he gazed at her with wide eyes made her rethink her approach, "what's wrong?" she asked touching him gently on the shoulder.

"I thought," he slowly spoke, "that you were going to devour me."

Rose wanted to laugh but he was deadly serious. She clicked her teeth together comically, "no biting."

After some gentle coaxing she got him to uncurl, lower the trousers once again and let her take him into her mouth once more. His whole body was tense, and his eyes tightly shut as she began. But soon the reaction she expected to get came to pass and her small mouth was being filled by him. Moments later, she felt him swell further and not wanting him to climax, not just yet, she let him go.

Taking a moment to catch her breath she was about to suggest he finish disrobing when, in a surprise move, he grabbed her. He encircled her waist with his long arms, turning her to face him as he knelt in front of her, and his mouth found her breasts.

Instantly she felt a rush of moisture flow from her as he licked and nibbled at first one highly sensitised nipple then the other. Rising slightly John lowered her to the bed, Rose still locked around him, he manoeuvred himself to lying on top of her.

She was completely naked beneath him, while he still had on the tshirt and the spare sweat pants Pete had loaned him bunched around his knees. The sensation of the material on her flesh made her skin tingle. He seemed in no hurry to get undressed, but rather busied himself with exploring her body.

The oral fixation she had noted in The Doctor, was echoed in his half human clone she realised with delight as his unrelenting mouth tasted her head to toe before concentrating on her now red hot centre.

As this tongue dipped into her, first with caution, then with abandon she cried out and tightened her thighs around his head. When he added two long fingers into her as well as the still tasting mouth, she felt a new flood of wetness and shuddered around him with a near-scream.

She did so she thought she heard a self-satisfied chuckle come from her partner. As her breath and mind returned to her she wondered if it was possible to die from pleasure. He then slid up on her with a wide grin. She realised she had not imagined the laugh as he still seemed very pleased with himself.

Unconsciously she laughed too. This was a mistake, she instantly realised. His smile faded in a heart beat and he looked like he wanted to crawl under the bed and hide.

Not wanting to lose him now, she pulled him in by the back of his head and as she licked his lips, tasting herself on him. She let her hands trail down his spine, "get ready for the ride of your life," she breathed out huskily and straddling his lap let her breasts rub against his soft chest hair as her hand once again took hold of him, teasing him with her fingers. 


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

Soon her ministrations won over his insecurity, Rose noted with triumph, and his body relaxed while a rather specific part of him grew rigid. Not willing to wait any longer to get what she wanted, no, needed she climbed on top and slowly impaled herself on him.

As her hot core bathed his hardened flesh he cried out and grabbed her hips pulling her further down onto him.

Lifting up she almost completely released him before sinking back. Each time she slid home he gasped and arched beneath her, his eyes wide and his jaw tightly clenched. Letting her lead for a while, John felt like he was being slowly boiled alive by her molten heat. It was a strange, heady mix of pleasure and an almost unbearable tension building in him that lead him to roll them both over, still entwined with him now on top.

Listening to the primal rhythm in his head he slowly pulled out before rushing into her ever tightening embrace. Encouraged by the way she clung to him, her nails digging into his back carving her passion onto his flesh, he picked up the pace.

Soon he was almost slamming into her as a his spine seemed to fill with tendrils of fire starting at his neck and burned its way down to his hips. As he was once again bathed in a fresh scalding hot rush of moisture from her as screamed and tightened around him. Soon he was shaking with release, his thrusts erratic and almost convulsive as it felt like his very soul had been emptied into her.

Worried that his weight would crush her he started to move off of her body. But her legs and arms were still tightly wrapped around him and he could only roll over onto his side, taking her with him.

Kissing him once Rose finally let him go and curled up next to him, her back pressed against his chest and was instantly asleep.

John watched her give herself over to oblivion with a sense of wonder and an increasing level of worry as he replayed the recent events in his mind. He had hurt her. She had screamed when he had pounded into her!

The panic that he had caused her pain would mean that as soon as she recovered she would leave him, sent him out of the after climax bliss he had felt into a state of horror at his actions.

Fighting the tangled sheets he stumbled out of the bed he ran into the bathroom and examined himself in the mirror, looking for signs of her blood on him. Finding only deep scratches from her nails, signs to him that she had been in agony, he turned on the shower to full blast hot taps on full and stood under the spray.

Thinking frantically, he tried to soothe himself that she had initiated this all, she had spurred him on! But he couldn't quite bring himself to let go of the guilt. Didn't matter who started it, he yelled in his mind, you hurt her!

Rose woke sometime later, stretching out luxuriously she reached for her new lover and found the bed empty. She yawned as she opened her eyes to look for him. She could hear the shower going and see the steam curling out from under the bathroom door, and she smiled.

They had worked up quite the sweat, she grinned, then sitting up she swung her legs over the side of the bed and went to join John in the shower.

She had expected to slide in with him and maybe work them both back up to a fit state. But when she pulled back the curtains to find John sitting on the floor of the tub, curled into a ball she put that thought immediately out of her mind.

The water was still blazingly hot so she turned the taps off before reaching out to him, "what's wrong love?" she cooed as she climbed into the stall to enfold him in her arms and felt him shake.

"I hurt you," he replied, raising his head but not looking into her concerned eyes.

Rose looked at him uncomprehendingly, "I don't understand..." she finally breathed out.

"I made you scream," he continued, tears now forming in his dark eyes,"and I'm so sorry, please don't leave me!"

The penny finally dropped and she wanted to laugh, but the misery on his face made that impossible, "you didn't hurt me," she soothed, "and yes I did scream, but that was from pleasure, not pain."

It was his turn to look puzzled,"you mean you enjoyed that?"

"Oh yes," she grinned wickedly. Then reaching up she grabbed one of the towels, "come out of there and come back to bed."

Rising to his feet John took the towel and cinched it around his narrow waist still regarding her with a shocked expression.

Rose saw this and it made her grin even wider, "and I promise if you continue to make me scream like that, I will never leave you," with that she took his hand and led him out of the room. 


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5

Gently she walked him over to the bed, helping him climb inside it and snuggled in next to him. Even as her sleep crept up on her she realised she was being watched, "go to sleep," she swatted him on the shoulder playfully, "stop staring at me."

Forcing himself to relax, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. He woke with a start what seemed like mere minutes later, to find himself alone. His heart leapt in his throat as his worse fears were realised, she had left him!

Throwing back the covers he leapt to his feet. Running around the hotel room he called her name but she was no where to be found. Hastily throwing his clothes on he started to open the door to continue his search when he found Rose standing there, two cups of tea and a couple of pastries in her hands and the morning paper tucked under her arm.

Still breathing hard and not quite believing his eyes he stood in the doorway.

"I can't come in if you don't shift it," she laughed, as he stepped aside and let her in, "Pete said as soon as you're ready we can head home."

In his mind's eyes he saw the interior of the TARDIS as 'home' even as he realised he most likely would never see the blue box again. Just as he wondered if he could ever find peace anywhere Rose slipped her hand in his, "hello again," she smiled as he looked at her, "you were miles away there. Whatcha thinking about?"

"This is all going to take a lot of getting used to," he remarked distractedly, "I hope you can be patient with me."

Giving his hand a squeeze, she said, "you were promised to me for the rest of my life, we have all that time to get used to each other, then that's fine. So, stop worrying and let's dig in," she held up the bag, "before the tea and pastries get cold."

Sitting down at the small table in the suite Rose indicated to John to take the seat opposite her. He waited, hands folded in his lap with a studious expression on his face as she uncapped the cup of tea, carefully removing the disposable cup's lid and blew on the hot brew inside.

Following suit he removed the lid and blew, a bit too hard, causing some of the tea to splash him in the face. Correcting his method, he repeated the action again, this time more gently and then sat back.

Rose fished out a pastry and a napkin and set it in front of him, and took a big bite of hers with a small sigh of delight as the warm sweetness melted on her tongue. Half expecting her partner to do the very same thing she instead looked up to see him pulling the pastry apart and examining it closely.

"Don't you like raspberry?" she asked as he dipped a long finger into the filling scooping it out onto the napkin.

He thought about this for a moment, looking up at the ceiling and then back at her, "I think I do," he shrugged, and continued to scoop out the gluey red centre.

"You are supposed to eat that, not play with it," she gestured with her cup as she made to take another sip.

Given his rather pliant nature of the night before, she expected him to instantly comply with her suggestion. But instead he continued to pick at the mess in front of him. Then peering at the completely demolished pastry, he mumbled, "sucrose, gluten, egg of... possibly a chicken, artificial flavours, and colourings," before making a half-hearted attempt to reassemble it all and taking a bite.

Rose watched as he carefully chewed, rolling it around his mouth before swallowing, "and your verdict?" she prompted.

"Tasty," he smiled and took another bite. 


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

Rose eyed the beds over John's shoulder as they finished their breakfast and wondered if they could have a little 'eye opener' before Pete came to collect them. She pictured Pete and her mum bursting in on them mid-act. With a soft sigh of disappointment she decided against it.

John looked up over this cup at her, "is something wrong?" he asked, his eyes wide with concern.

"You got his keen hearing too, huh?" Rose smiled, "nothing's 'wrong' I was just thinking of last night..." she noticed he was about to apologise again, so she leaned across the small table to cup his cheek in her hand, "and wondering if we had time for another go."

He leaned into her hand for a moment then sat back with a lopsided grin on his face, "what is it humans typically take to keep their strength up?"

"Vitamins," Rose replied.

"I think I will need a lot of those," John laughed and then picking up the last of his pastry and popped it into his mouth.

Rose laughed too. It was nice to see him more relaxed and she hoped this meant that he was starting to get used to being with her. She just had to remember that despite his appearance and mannerisms he was not the man or Time Lord she had travelled with, he was a completely new life form.

As much as she loved The Doctor, she didn't want his near duplicate to always worry that she was comparing them. She hoped he would keep the familiar, the beloved traits and perhaps add his own into the mix. She truly looked forward to seeing the two merge and couldn't wait to see the end result.

She looked up at him from under her fringe, hoping to steal a glance unnoticed but he wasn't paying attention to her at all. He was slowly licking the sticky sugar from his long fingers like a cat cleaning itself after a meal. Each stroke of his tongue made her ache to put his mouth to a better use. Her throat went dry while other parts of her got very moist and she envisioned leaping across the table and tearing his clothes off.

She was about to do so when a knock came at the door, "are you decent?" her mother's voice demanded.

Swallowing hard Rose started to say "I'll get it" but found her voice was squeaky and hardly audible. She settled for gesturing at the door with one hand while the other went to her chest trying to slow her heart rate down.

Jackie scowled at her daughter, "you look ill, has he infected you, with his, I dunno, meta-whatever cooties?"

Rose shot her mother a glare and started to chide her for even thinking that, let alone saying it aloud when John called out, "hope you've had your jabs!"

He scrunched up his face and made a show of scratching his head vigorously. Then he stopped to examine his nails closely, "I think they're mutating, and highly contagious. It is a long ride back to Pete's house after all."

Jackie's eyes narrowed, "he may be a new man, but he's still the same old smarty pants isn't he?"

Rose grinned, "we'll meet you at the car," she gave her mum a quick peck on the cheek and bustled her back out of the hotel room, shutting the door behind her. 


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 7

Finishing the last of her packing Rose looked around the room, as if trying to memorise every last detail of this now magic place.

"It is beautiful," she breathed out, not realising she had given voice to that thought.

John, who had been sitting on the edge of one of the beds gave the room a once over, "I can't say I'm much of a connoisseur of such places, this being the first one I've ever stayed in, but it seems pretty spare."

"It's not the furnishings," Rose sat down beside him, slipping her hands in his, "it's what happened here. You, me and..." she patted the mattress with a wicked grin, "and good ol' springy here."

With that she leaned in for a kiss, their lips were about to touch when the door flew open again. This time it was Pete. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline, which considering his thinning locks, was a pretty impressive leap.

He quickly looked away, at a point somewhere above their heads, "not to um, interrupt..." he cleared his throat, "whatever it is you two were doing or about to do," he blushed looking back at them, "but the car's packed, and we're ready to go."

Rose felt fifteen again and caught snogging by her mum out behind the wheelie bins, but then she remembered she was well past the age of consent and met Pete's discomforted gaze with her head held high.

"We're ready too," she rose from the bed taking John's hand once more and helping him to his feet.

Pete nodded wordlessly and hastily left the room.

The ride back to Pete's house was a study in contrasts. Pete was tight lipped and grim faced as he drove. In the little while Rose had come to live on the alternate Earth he had come to view her as his daughter, and felt all the fatherly urges to protect her and keep her from harm.

John had rolled down the window next to him, taking in the passing landscape with eyes wide and shining. His already ruffled hair dancing in the wind and his hands curled over the edge of the glass he was completely silent with wonder.

Jackie, by comparison, was belly-aching at full volume about the hardness of the mattresses at the hotel, the weakness of the tea served at breakfast, the coolness of her morning bath, and pretty much anything and everything.

Rose was alternating between watching John's delighted discoveries and working on how she would approach the subject of her love life not being her Stepfather's never mind without hurting his feelings.

As they approached the estate, they stopped for a red light and John opened the car door and jumped out.

"Where in the hell is he going?" Jackie groused.

Pete threw the car into park and started to unbuckle his seat belt but Rose beat him to it and was out the door and trotting to catch up to John.

He had disappeared over a hill and at first she couldn't see him. Turning in a slow circle on her tip toes she tried to spy the familiar mop of reddish-brown hair amongst the wild flowers and other weeds.

Then she looked down, a few metres away she finally spotted him. He was lying on his back in a patch of purple violets, grin as wide as the sky above him.

Behind her she could hear a car door slam and knew Pete was coming to find them. She knelt down by John, "what are you doing love?" she smiled at him.

"Isn't there an old human saying 'you have to stop and smell the roses'?" he looked up at her.

"These aren't roses," she laughed.

He took her hand and held it up to his nose, sniffing her like she was a bouquet, "no, but you are, and I think you smell wonderful."

Pete appeared over the crest of the hill, Rose caught his scowl and got to her feet holding her hand out, "come on, Pete's about to burst a vein," she gestured at her Stepfather.

John stood as well but insisted on picking a few handfuls of the fragrant purple flowers before climbing back into the car. 


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8

Once they arrived at the house, Pete was all business. He indicated for one of the staff to show John to his room but Rose stopped him, he s sharing my room, she declared.

Pete scowled, not while you re under my roof, he shot back, you will have separate rooms unless you are married, understood?

Oh come off of it, she sighed, you and mum shared a room before you took the plunge!

Jackie stepped in, that was different, she sniffed, we was married on the other Earth before.

You were married to my father, not him, Rose pointed out, that s not the same thing.

Looking at Pete s face when she said that, Rose was instantly sorry, he had come to think of her as his true biological father and hearing her point out the uncomfortable truth, made his face fall, it s not that I don t love you like you were my real dad, she soothed but he was having none of it.

Separate rooms, he repeated, put him in the west wing, the room with the garden view.

John looked uncertainly from Rose to Pete to Jackie, as the servant shifted impatiently from foot to foot waiting for someone to follow him. Deciding not to get in the middle of the standoff between Rose and her Stepfather, John let himself be lead to his new room.

The room was bigger than the entire hotel suite they had stayed in the night before. A huge four poster bed stood near a big bay window and there was a separate sitting area and huge wardrobes set in one wall.

He found that amusing, the only clothes he had were the ones he was wearing and he doubted they would need a bank of closets to hold them. Curious he opened up the nearest one and peered inside. Contrary to his expectations, they were chock full of garments. All new with tags still attached. Taking a shirt from the wardrobe he held it up to his chest and it seemed to be just his size.

How in the he started then heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned to see Pete standing in the doorway.

Figured you d need a change of clothing, Pete smiled at him, I used to work at a tailor s when I was young before I made my fortune. I still have the eye, he shrugged, then coming to stand by John he put a fatherly hand on his shoulder, I hope you like them.

I do, John nodded, thank you.

Pete looked around the room, clearly trying to come up with the best way to approach a subject he was a bit uncomfortable with, and stalling for time, this room was going to be the nursery when Jax, well my first wife not the current one, and I had children. When it became apparent we were not going to do that, I had it redone.

He looked out the window and went quiet for a moment. Then he turned back to John, I know, technically, she s not my real daughter, Rose that is. But I couldn t love her more than and as her father now; I have a great interest in seeing that no harm comes to her.

Knowing it would be imprudent to interrupt, John waited for him to continue.

You seem a decent bloke, and I know you come from good stock, Pete continued, but I don t know you from Adam, and until I feel sure

John held up his hands, I don t blame you, he assured the concerned man, but I promise you I won t harm her.

No offence, but you don t really have a lot of experience to base that on, Pete laughed nervously, you are still just a babe in grown up clothing.

What can I do to make you believe me? John asked.

Pete felt sorry for this man on some levels, it couldn t be easy being thrown into life the way he had but that s precisely why he was being extra cautious. He had seen The Doctor, seen his power, felt his rage, witnessed his fury and this human/Time Lord mix would be capable of all that plus adding in human anger on top of that, could be deadly.

He had prepared an answer for that question, come with me to Torchwood, we ll run some tests and decide if you re safe.

John s heart skipped a beat at that. He had inherited The Doctor s distrust of the place embedded in his mind. Even though the Time Lord loved Jack and trusted him completely, he still didn t like the organisation he worked for.

But then the image of Rose s smiling face, her warm touch on his skin and her sparkling eyes made him quickly agree to this plan. Pete shook his hand, glad to see you re willing to be reasonable, he said before turning to leave the room. 


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 9

Pacing around the room John wondered how long he was supposed to stay in the there or if he was free to move about the house. He could see out into the inviting garden and the sunshine seemed to call to him.

Figuring he would slip outside unnoticed, he opened the window and gauged the distance to the ground. He could easily drop that far and as long as he rolled as he landed, do a minimal amount of damage to himself.

He had just climbed up on the ledge when Rose opened the door, "No!" she yelled and dove for him, almost knocking him out of the window as she made contact, but then she yanked him back by the collar of his tshirt and he landed with a thump on top of her.

She wriggled out from underneath him, "you could have killed yourself!"

John sat up, "it's only two floors up and the house is built into a hill, at the most I would have twisted my ankle."

"What were you trying to do?" Rose asked, attempting to keep her voice calm.

"I felt cooped up and wanted to go outside," John replied reasonably.

"Stairs," Rose gestured vaguely at the door, "we use stairs for that, not leaping out of windows OK?"

John nodded in agreement even though he knew he was right, he didn't want to worry her further.

Taking a deep breath Rose got herself under control, "I came up here to check on you, see how you were doing."

"Aside from being tackled by a slightly mad blonde woman,' John grinned, "I'm OK."

At first Rose looked like she was offending by his teasing, but then she grinned, "I saved your life, you owe me."

"I don't think that would have killed me, " John frowned, then he saw the mischief sparkling in her eyes, and grinned, "yes ma'am, how can I ever repay you?"

She moved to where she was straddling his lap, "I have a list," she said as she rubbed herself against him.

"Starting with?"

"Kiss me, you idiot," she growled playfully.

Things had escalated to a bit more than kissing when they heard a knock on the door. Hastily scrambling to her feet and smoothing her clothes down Rose blew out a sigh of frustration, "we have to get a lock installed on that," she murmured under her breath before answering the door.

She spoke to someone that John couldn't see from his position, then she shut the door again, "lunch time," she announced ruefully. Eyeing the bed then John she groaned softly before gesturing for him to follow her.

Time Lords didn't require as much sustenance as humans, usually one or two meals a day typically light and not usually very interesting, just enough to keep a body going. John wasn't really hungry having had a pretty large pastry for breakfast, but he made an effort to fit in. The food smelled good, and everyone piled their plates while he took small portions of everything and picked at it.

The atmosphere of this first family meal was a bit tense. Jackie was outright staring at him, while Pete was trying to be a bit more subtle. Just as he wondered if Rose was aware of this unspoken tension she slammed her glass down, "that's it!" she declared, her jaw clenched, "what is your problem?" she demanded of her parents.

Jackie leaned back with an indignant puff of air, "nothing!" she protested, not terribly convincingly.

Pete leaned over his plate and continued shovelling food in his mouth as if she hadn't spoken.

Looking to ease the now electrified air of the dining room, John spoke up, "so, when are you taking me to Torchwood?" he asked. The room when so silent John fancied he would be able to hear a spider cough, then it erupted and the shouting began. 


	10. Chapter 10

Ch 10

Pete was red faced, defending his desire to keep Rose from harm, and Jackie chimed in that her daughter was ungrateful for his protection and John wanted to crawl under the table.

He hadn't meant to start a war, he had been curious and attempting to make small talk, which he just remembered The Doctor was pretty lousy at as well.

Taking advantage of not being the centre of attention he slipped out of his seat and out the dining room door unnoticed.

The butler was standing just outside the door, clearly eavesdropping. He stood up with a start, looking at John with a guilty expression. "guess they won't be wanting dessert," he smiled winningly.

"If it's fruit on skewers or anything on a heavy plate," John gestured at the room, "I wouldn't suggest it."

"I like you," the butler laughed and his posh accent slipped as he punched John lightly on the arm, "let's say we get in a few while the toffs are finishing their row?"

Not exactly sure what the man meant but eager to get away from the still screaming Tyler family John followed the man. He was led to a small pantry off the kitchen. The butler got up on a step-ladder and reached behind two large containers, one marked sugar, the other flour and pulled out a half empty bottle of some amber liquid.

Opening the bottle the butler took a large swig of the contents, his head tipped back so far it was quite easy to see his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. Then he lowered the bottle, used a dish towel to wipe the mouth of it clean and handed it over to John.

"Get some of that in ya," he instructed.

Sniffing the contents closely John was not too keen on putting any of that into his mouth, but the butler was looking at him expectantly and he didn't want to see standoffish so he tipped some of the beverage into his mouth.

Almost instantly he choked and started coughing violently. This didn't seem to bother the other man who just patted him on the back unhelpfully, and waited until he could breath again normally before warning, "that stuff is harsh," he admitted, "but it gets the job done."

Taking the bottle back the butler took yet another large gulp of the stinging liquid, "once it numbs the throat," he rasped, "it goes down easier." He handed the bottle back.

Figuring one more go wouldn't hurt John went to take another sip but his grip on the bottle slipped and in trying to correct it wound up dumping most of the rest of the harsh drink into his mouth. He swallowed it before it could drown him and almost immediately a warm sensation, that started in the pit of his stomach, started to spread all throughout his body.  
>He felt relaxed to the point of being almost boneless and sat down on a sack of potatoes with a crooked grin.<p>

The butler was smiling as well, "at least you left me a drop," he laughed, draining the rest of the bottle before fishing a tin of breath mints from his pocket,"you may want one of these," he put two of the mints in John's hand.

Then he eyed the pantry door, "think it's quieted down a bit," he winked at John, "I'm Derrick by the way," he held out his hand, "nice to meet ya."

John tried to reach up and shake his hand but his vision was so blurry he aimed for the wrong image of the man and managed to knock over a tin of sardines.

Derrick laughed at this, "I'll tell em you went for a walk or something," he waved and left John alone in the pantry. 


	11. Chapter 11

Ch 11

Rose was the first to notice that John was no longer among them. She held up her hand, cutting Pete off in mid-rant, "where is he?" she asked looking around the room.

The butler had just come back, and was clearing some of the thrown dishes and overturned glass wear, "the young man went for a walk," he offered as he softly hiccupped, expelling a slightly whiskey scented puff of air.

Rose leaned in close to the man, this walk, did it involve a bit of shoring up beforehand? she asked quietly.

The butler looked at her, sizing her up, trying to decide how much to confide in her, then shrugged, he had a wee drop, he held up his fingers to indicate a small-ish measure.

At that Rose was out the door of the dining room and off in search of John.

He wasn t too hard to find, he was still sitting on the floor of the butler s pantry with a strange half grin on his face and his eyes unfocused and blurry.

You are drunk, Rose declared as she tried to help him into more upright position.

Rose! he laughed, and tried to embrace her but his doubled vision made him instead elbow her in the chest and almost knock her over.

Come on, she grunted, pulling him up to his feet, let s get you into bed.

Is it bed time already? he slurred, I thought it was he broke off with a frown, um not really sure what time it is to be honest.

Now there s a surprise, Rose shot back. Once he was mostly standing she put his arm around her shoulders and her hand around his waist, let s go the back way, really don t think you re fit for company.

The stairs were a challenge and several times along the way Rose had to grab on to the railing to stop the two of them tumbling down the curving staircase. She was covered in sweat as she finally managed to get John onto his bed, and coaxed him to lie down.

Why is the room spinning? he asked holding onto the bed as if he expected to go flying off at any time.

It s not spinning, she smiled down and him, brushing the hair out of his face, your head is spinning from the drink.

I don t think I want to do that again, he closed his eyes, tasted nasty and it makes me feel a bit he stopped and went pale.

Sick? Rose prompted.

He clamped his mouth shut in a desperate attempt to keep himself from retching but Rose knew it was inevitable and ran to the bathroom to fetch a waste basket.

After things had settled to just the dry heaves, Rose wiped his face with a cool cloth and got him to lie back down again, you re going to feel like hell in the morning, she sighed, snuggling in close to him as he drifted off into an uneasy alcohol soaked sleep.

John woke sometime in the early hours of the morning; his mouth felt like he had been gargling with sand and his head was pounding in time with his one heart. This was all made tolerable by the realisation that Rose was holding him in her arms.

At first he didn t know where he was, but once that was sorted he couldn t recall how he had gotten from the pantry to this room. Closing his eyes, partially in the vain hope that it would lessen his headache, and partially to try to remember he tried to work it all out.

It was no use, he decided, and letting Rose s warm embrace take him back to dreamland he hoped when he woke again, he d feel less like he d been thrown down a flight of stairs, and be able to enjoy Rose s company. 


	12. Chapter 12

Ch 12

When John woke again Rose was sitting up on the edge of the bed eyeing a collection of pill bottles she had amassed, "I know you can't take aspirin, or Time Lords can't, so would it only half kill you?" she mused, then noticing he was awake she smiled at him, "how's the head?"

"Aside from feeling like demons wearing spiked heels are tap dancing on my brain? Great," John sat up slowly.

"I can imagine," she laughed, "you were pretty pissed," she looked at the bottles again, "what can you take for a headache?"

"I would think chopping it off at the neck would work," John rubbed his head ruefully.

"Bit drastic," she kissed him on the forehead, "how about a nice cup of tea and some dry toast instead?" she stood up and offered her hand to him, "come on, shift."

Pete was already at the breakfast table when they came downstairs. He managed to plaster on a smile when he saw Rose, but it didn't reach his eyes. He took in John's rumpled clothes, his hair hastily smoothed down and the tight pained look on his face and his expression softened, "rough night?" he asked.

"Definitely," John replied gingerly sitting down, trying not to make any sudden movements.

"Been there myself," Pete laughed, "at university I once got in a drinking contest with a mate who grew up in Russia, never try to match shots with a man who drank vodka before he even started school."

Rose was ready to do battle with her Stepfather over his treatment of John but seeing them talking now, Pete with the familiar paternal tones she had come to love as he addressed John, she decided this was a fight she may not need to ever have, and wisely backed off.

Pete jumped up, "I'll fix you a sure fire hangover cure," he snapped his fingers, "guaranteed to get rid of the worst symptoms! Be right back!"

"Why does that sound dangerous?" John watched Pete as he trotted out of the room.

Rose was halfway through her first slice of toast when Pete reappeared. He held out a glass that looked to be filled with a diluted tomato juice and something frothy on top. He set it in front of John with a flourish, "here it is!" he declared.

Making no move to pick it up John peered at the glass with suspicion, "what's in it?" he asked warily.

"Tabasco, mineral water, white pepper, celery juice, freshly squeezed lemon, mint and a raw egg," Pete rattled off still beaming at the concoction, "and a shot of the hair of the dog!"

"What am I supposed to with that?"

"Drink it, of course!" Pete slapped him on the shoulder before re-taking his seat.

"There's dog hair in this?" John picked up the glass and twirled some of the contents around his finger.

"No, no, 'hair of the dog' is an old saying, means I put a shot of vodka in it, to ease your head a bit," Pete explained as he took a bite of his eggs, "it'll help, believe me."

John looked at Rose for reassurance, still not convinced Pete wasn't trying to poison him. She nodded encouragingly, "sounds nasty," she advised, "and believe me it tastes pretty nasty too, but it works. When I first got sent here, I went on a bit of a bender and he made me a few of those, it does the trick."

Although still not convinced, John tipped the glass to his mouth, ignoring the smell coming from within and gulped it down. The stuff slid down his throat as one slimy lump as the hot sauce burned his mouth. He started to sweat almost immediately and tried not to be sick as the raw egg left a film on his tongue.

Pete poured him a glass of water and chuckled softly as John drained without pausing for a breath.

As soon as the burning sensation retreated John realised he was hungry and reached for a slice of toast, "there ya go!" Pete boomed, "told ya it would work!"


	13. Chapter 13

Ch 13

Feeling much better after Pete's cure and some food in his stomach John actually felt alive and ready to take on the day…whatever that would be.

Pete finished his breakfast and announced he was heading to work, gave Rose a quick peck on the cheek and a slight wave at John before taking his leave.

Rose pushed her chair back, "now then," she smiled, "I think today I should show you around the place. A proper tour! I'll have Derrick pack us a picnic lunch and we'll make a day of it."

John had only seen the front of the house and the view of the garden from his room, so he had no idea how much more the estate covered. Given his restlessness of the day before and the feeling that he needed to get out and explore his surroundings, he wondered if somehow Rose had read his mind and asked her this.

"No, but having hung around with The Doctor, I know that he can't stay in one place too long, and figured you would have the same problem," she laughed, "go get cleaned up and meet me down here in about half past!"

It wasn't until he had stripped off his clothing that John realised he smelt a bit rank. Time Lords rarely sweated and when they did their perspiration was odourless, being half human he was not as blessed and he wondered how Rose tolerated sleeping next to him the night before.

Stepping into the shower he examined the various soaps, shampoos and conditioners that lined the shelves. The choices were almost overwhelming. Reading the labels he wasn't sure if he wanted to smell of apricots, plums or lavender, or go with the more traditional vanilla, cinnamon or cucumber? Wondering if he was supposed to wash with these or dress himself like a salad John's hand hovered over the containers in indecision.

He was reaching the point of just closing his eyes and picking one when the shower door opened and Rose slipped inside.

"Thought you could use company," she smiled up at him. She reached behind him and plucked the bottle of cucumber body wash from the shelf, squirted some on her hands and slowly rubbed it on his chest before scrubbing his ribs and venturing a bit lower.

Once he was washed clean, and his nerves on fire from her touch, Rose handed him the bottle and turned her back to him with a half-smile.

Taking his cue from her earlier actions John soaped her head to toe, coming to kneel in front of her, his long fingers holding her hips, as he kissed a hot trail from her navel to pay attention to first one then the other breast. She gasped as his tongue reached her neck as he rose to his feet and lifted her up. Then lowering her slowly onto his rock hard self, he pulled her in tight and moved her to rest on the cool tile wall.

The contrast of the coolness against her back and the hot length buried deep inside her made Rose groan with pleasure. At first they stayed locked together, her legs wrapped around his thin waist and his arms around her hips.

Then he shifted slightly bending his knees and pulled away momentarily before pushing back in, using the wall as support he lifted her almost completely off then let gravity do the work of reseating her.

Just when she thought this leisurely pace would drive her mad, he growled low in his throat and moved them both to standing just under the spraying water, lifting and dropping her and an increasing pace she held on tightly her eyes closed as her fingers dug into his shoulders.

Leaning back she arched in his embrace as the first wave of her climax hit her and she tightened around him, once she regained her breath she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, eyes closed.

He continued to thrust inside her, the pace growing and building until she found herself climaxing again just as he slammed into her with a cry and she felt a warm rush fill her. Without opening her eyes, her mouth sought his and she kissed him softly as he lowered her off of him and back on her feet.

In a surprise move he soaped her once again, head to toe, rinsed her off and kissed her again, before turning off the taps and fetching a couple of towels.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch 14

Rose was a bit slower to recover and by the time she got out of the bathroom John was already dressed and standing at the window.

She had only had the strength to slip on her tshirt while it was hard to tell he had expended any energy at all. This was something she'd have to take into consideration, she grinned like a naughty school girl, recalling her past lovers who usually were only good for one round.

She was just about to suggest they spend more 'quality time' together when John spun around, "you aren't going out like that are you?" he asked giving her the once over, "it's pretty windy."

Rose put on her most seductive smile, her flagging energy restored by the idea of having another go, "I thought maybe we could stay in..." she got up on her tiptoes and nibbled at his ear.

"You said we could go exploring," John looked out the window once again, "it's nice, if a bit chilly, the sun's out so it should warm up!"

Seeing the beams of light reflecting in his dark eyes and the way his body leaned, almost imperceptibly towards the window Rose abandoned her plans and finished getting dressed. She couldn't bear to deny him anything, especially when he had the same look on his face as The Doctor did when he was about to step foot on a new world.

Keeping him locked up inside would be like caging a beautiful exotic bird she sighed inwardly as she finished tying her shoes.

Once he got this round exploration out of his system, only then would she lure him back to bed, she promised herself. Besides, she grinned once more, it would give her time to rest up.

John was trying to be patient but by the time she had slipped on her hoodie he was almost dancing in place. Part of her wanted to delay a bit more, see if he would explode in a ball of nervous energy, but she finished quickly and reached out her hand, "come on, the world, well, the estate awaits!"

Clasping her small hand in his long fingers John took off at a dead run, pulling Rose along with him. She laughed delightedly, her feet barely touching the ground, as she remembered doing this with The Doctor.

Just the two of them, exploring, discovering and making the strange world less so by being together. Then coming back to the TARDIS to talk in excited tones about their most recent adventure.

Suddenly they stopped. John was no longer smiling in anticipation, he was looking at her like it was the first time he had ever clapped eyes on her and was not happy at what he was seeing.

"What's wrong?" she asked wondering why he was staring at her like that.

"You called me 'Doctor'," he whispered, his voice almost impossible to hear.

Rose was confused, she hadn't been aware she had said anything at all, to her it had sounded like she just had been laughing, until she replayed the events in her head, "I'm sorry," she stepped in close, "I got a bit confused there, that's all."

Her words did not have the soothing effect she had been hoping for, "do you wish he was here with you now, instead of me?" he asked, his face unreadable.

She tried to reach up to cup his cheek in her hand but he moved out of the way. She swallowed hard, "I will always miss him, but he couldn't, I mean he would never be able to love me the way you do."

He stood still, silent as he listened for the truth in her words. She wished she had something she could say to take that lost puppy dog look out of his eyes and replace it with the shining excitement that had been there just moments before.

"John..." she started but in a flash he was gone. Running, this time alone and away from her.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch 15

He knew he was being unreasonable, after all he was just a pale copy, a mere shadow and half of the man The Doctor was. So it should have come as no surprise that Rose didn't think he was good enough.

He tried to rationalise it, tell his heart to stop pounding out his despair but he couldn't. He had allowed himself to hope that he could be enough, would be the one she wanted, but the minute he heard The Doctor's name spill from her lips, he knew it wasn't to be.

Could he be content to be second best? Would he come to accept being a consolation prize? A second place, a silver medal instead of the gold?

Finding a secluded area of the garden, a neglected brick wall surrounded by tall weeds that had probably once been quite grand he finally stopped running. A single stone bench stood by itself it was still mostly intact so he sat down on it.

The real question was; could he live without Rose? Feeling the sense of loss from the memories he had inherited from his creator, believing that she was gone forever that first awful time. Coupled with the idea of being without her now, could his one feeble heart survive that?

A tidal wave of intense emotions flooded him, jealousy, anger, betrayal, longing and hopelessness washed over him. He curled up into a tight ball on the bench as if he were trying to hold all the feelings in before they gathered into the cry of despair that was building up at the back of his throat.

John had taken off so fast Rose had no idea where he had gotten to. She looked the ground floor of the house and was about to go outside to continue her search there. He had been so keen on going to the gardens, maybe he was in one of those? The estate had many, and covered a lot of ground but she wouldn't give up until she found him.

As she reached the door her mum appeared out of one of the rooms, "you best put a jacket on, it's freezing out there."

"Did you see John?" Rose asked automatically reaching for one of the jackets on the coat rack in obedience to her mother.

"He went out the back," Jackie gestured towards the rear of the house with her cigarette. Then her face softened, "did you two have a row?"

"Why do you ask that?" Rose wondered.

"He looked like he had lost his only friend in the world, even at the super-fast speed he was traveling it was pretty obvious," Jackie explained, "you'd think with those spindly legs of theirs, his and The Doctor's, they'd be shaking on their pins, but they are movers ain't they?"

"I called him by The Doctor's name," Rose admitted with a sigh, "and now he thinks I don't love him."

"Well?" Jackie took a drag of her cigarette, "do you? Love him I mean."

"It may sound crazy, since I've only just met him," Rose zipped up her jacket, "but yes, I do. Maybe even more than I ever loved The Doctor."

Jackie scowled at her daughter, "then why are you standing around here yapping at me?" she opened the door and all but shoved Rose onto the stoop, "get out there and find him!"

A bit taken aback by her mum's sudden change in attitude towards John Rose had to ask, "why do you care about him?"

"I don't," Jackie shrugged, "I just know that if you really love him that much, and he makes you happy then it's worth keeping him around."

Stepping forward Jackie ordered, "now, stop wittering and go find your man!" at that the door closed almost smacking Rose in the back as it slammed shut.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch 16

Still marvelling at her mum's pep talk Rose head for the first garden. As she approached its lush greenness she realised why Jackie had such a clear insight into her current predicament.

In some ways her mum's life mirrored her own. The first Pete, Rose's true father had died young, and then this world's Pete came into her life and spirited her heart away. Did her Stepfather ever wonder if Jackie was comparing them? Did he ever think that she could trade her first husband for him if she could?

Rose remembered very little of her father. Mostly through her mum she found out that while well intentioned he was not a great success at anything and they fought constantly. This Pete, was, by contrast, wealthy and a savvy business man. Anything he touched tuned to gold, he was a slick salesman and could probably sell ice to Eskimos.

But still, he had to have that little bit of doubt, buried deep in the back of his mind. Did he measure up? Or hopefully surpass the first Pete of Jackie's life.

Rose realised why Jackie was so keen on her finding John. Maybe it wasn't Pete worrying about being good enough, maybe it was her mum who felt somehow inferior? Picturing her bold, brash exterior, her no-nonsense approach to everything it was hard for Rose to imagine her mum being insecure about anything.

Shaking her head she cleared her mind and refocused on searching for John. She needed to find him and hopefully by then she would also find the right words to make him understand that he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, not The Doctor.

Not finding him in the front gardens Rose followed the flag stone path to the back of the estate. The whooshing of the fountain off in the distance sounding like a torrent of water in the silence of the grounds as she continued her search.

John, still curled up into an almost foetal position heard her calling for him. He heart leapt at the sound of Rose saying his name, but then he remembered her saying the wrong one earlier and he was miserable again.

"This is ridiculous," he chided himself as he uncurled and tried for a more dignified position, "be a man," he growled under his breath. But even as he gave himself this pep talk he realised he had no idea how to do that. He had the knowledge, born into him, to be a Time Lord, but being a human? He had to discover that all on his own.

And really he was neither, half of one thing, half of another. Never to be a whole.

But he felt whole around Rose, and had allowed himself to think she felt the same way.

From his vantage point he could see the top of her blonde head come into view. His first instinct was to run and hide but he summoned the courage to stay where he was, stealing himself for whatever was going to happen next.

He could picture her telling him the truth, that she loved The Doctor, more than him, and really who could blame her? She would be sympathetic, and do it in the kindest way possible of course, but in the end he would finally know that she would settle for him only because she couldn't have the Time Lord.

Or worse, that she could never be content with him and would go in search of The Doctor, leaving him alone?

He was so lost in his terror inducing thoughts that when a hand reached out and brushed his face he almost jumped out of his skin.

"You're ice-cold," Rose smiled down at him, "you told me to bundle up and here you are freezing your skinny arse off," at that she sat next to him and took his hands in hers.


	17. Chapter 17

Ch 17

"Is that what you came to tell me?" John asked, his voice as cold as his hands, "that I should have worn a coat?"

"No, don't be silly, but you really should have," she raised his fingers to her mouth and blew a hot breath on them, attempting to warm them up.

He tried to remove his hands from hers but she held on tightly, surprising him with her strength.

She paused, clearly looking for the right words. John steeled himself, waiting for the awful truth to come out he couldn't look her in the eyes as he tried to keep the outward appearance of calm.

"I'm sorry I called you by the wrong name," she started, "you reminded me so much of him in that moment, and it just slipped out. I've never been good with names, I used to call all my boyfriends 'stud' so I didn't have to worry about keeping them straight," she laughed nervously at this and stole a glance at John hoping he would laugh to but his expression was a blank mask as he stared into space.

Rose sidled in closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder, "but that doesn't mean I don't love you," she felt him take in a sharp breath at this and so wanted to see if his stony mask had slipped but didn't think this was the time, "if he, The Doctor, was here, right now and I had to choose between the two of you, I'd pick you. No contest."

This time she did look up, but he was still rock still and unmoving, "in the end, no one stays with him, it's like a rite of passage for a select few. You travel a bit with The Doctor, while you're with him you're the most important person in the universe, but then he moves on and gets another companion, and leaves us behind."

"I would never leave you," John almost whispered.

She put her arm around his waist and pulled him in tight, "and I don't want you to. If you did I'd probably get married off to one of Pete's high society pals and become a social climber like my mum."

His laughter was sweet music to her ears, and he finally looked at her, "now that would be a sight," he smiled, "I can see you in one of those sparkly dresses, hair piled up..."

"Oi!" she smacked him playfully on the arm, "I could pull that look off!"

"If you do wear one of those dresses," John leered comically, "I'll help you pull it off."

Rose grinned at that imagery, making up her mind to 'borrow' one of her mum's collection to accomplish this scene.

"Promise me you won't call me 'stud'," John laughed.

"You have definitely earned the title," Rose joked, "but I promise," she made a vague gesture of crossing her heart. Then her expression changed to a frown, "please don't ever run off on me like that again, even though I've only known you for a short time I can't imagine my life without you."

John held out his free hand, "I swear that I will never leave you, unless you tell me to."

She shook his proffered hand, "deal," then raising herself up a bit she planted a passionate kiss on his lips, "sealed with a kiss," she chuckled and then settled back into his arms.


	18. Chapter 18

Ch 18

Sitting in the quiet of the garden with Rose pressed against him, John thought if he could freeze this moment in time and just stay like this forever he would be content. The sun was shining, the bench they were sitting on was shaded by a large tree and he had the woman he loved in his embrace.

"Penny for your thoughts," Rose looked up at him.

"I was just thinking," John smiled down at her, "that if this were my last moment in this plain of existence l would consider my life worthwhile."

"Nice," she laughed, "but luckily for us, you're going to stick around for a lot longer."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"You'd better," she mock-growled and grabbed him by the shirt front, "if you die on me, I'll kill you!"

Wondering exactly how that would be possible John looked into her eyes and saw them twinkling with mirth and realised she was only joking. It would take a while to understand her sense of humour, The Doctor hadn't quite gotten the hang of that, and so John had to learn this on his own.

"As much as I'd love to spend the rest of the day like this," Rose said, "I promised you some exploring, and I always live up to my promises!"

She stood up and offered her hand, "come on, things to do and see!"

Taking her hand John rose from the bench and let her take the lead.

Rose remembered her first days on this version of Earth, how she let her heartbreak and misery over losing The Doctor colour her world so much that everything seemed so lifeless and dull. It was only with the love of her mum and Pete's tender affection towards her that she started to come out of the heavy cloak of misery and start to see this world as her home.

Seeing Pete's estate through John's enthusiastic and wide eyed curiosity was like she was taking in this splendour for the first time. His fascination with even the most mundane things like the stack of fire wood that had developed some fungus, to the way the back of the estate curved down towards a small brook made her smile.

When he ran his hands over a moss covered tree with a look of concentration, his tongue peeking out from his slightly parted lips she felt as if his fingers were touching her, not the softness of the green lichen.

She moaned quietly as he stroked the tree once more and her knees felt a bit wobbly.

John heard this and turned his attention back to her, "are you all right?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, fine," she nodded swallowing hard. Then clearing her throat she gestured to a spot in the distance, "there's a Koi pond over there."

Taking in her slightly flushed appearance John took her by the shoulders and bent down to get a better look at her, "are you sure you're OK?"

"Just great, thanks," Rose wanted to grab him by the hair and kiss him hard enough to make him forget the local wildlife, but she remembered her promise to show him around. Promising herself once the tour was over, all bets were off, she took his hand once more, "let's go look at the posh fishies!"

Her resolve to not jump his bones then and there was weakened considerably when upon reaching the pond John rolled up his sleeves, knelt down in front of the pond and stuck his hands into the water. The fish seemed to play along and swam between his outstretched fingers making him giggle delightedly. And if at all possible made her love him more.

Needing to do something she followed suit and she was up to her elbows in the coolish water, being tickled by the Koi as they had a game of tag around their hands. After a bit Rose scooped up some of the water and splashed John with it. He looked startled for a moment before returning in kind.

Rose, playing dirty, jumped to her feet and ran around behind him. She gave him a shove, pushing him into the pond., as he fell he grabbed onto her and pulled her in with him and they both tumbled into the water laughing.


	19. Chapter 19

Ch 19

The feel of his body pressed against hers as he helped her to a standing position in the pond and enfolded her into a delighted hug made Rose acutely aware of her still aroused state.

She tried to work out if they could be seen by the main house and if not how easy it would be for her to get them both out of their clothes. She was a just about to put this line of thought into action when a shadow fell across them.

Stepping back, out of John's arms, Rose bit back a groan as she saw the butler, Derrick, standing next to the pond, an amused expression on his face, and holding out a picnic hamper, "you forgot this," he kept his face blank but couldn't quite keep the laughter at bay.

Rose hauled herself out of the pond with as much dignity as possible and accepted the basket solemnly, "thank you Derrick," she replied, 'that will be all."

Derrick's eyes flitted from the dripping wet Rose to the still partially submerged man in standing in the Koi Pond, a hint of a smile quirking the corners of his mouth, before bowing slightly and taking his leave.

John climbed out of the water and came squelching up next to her, lifted the lid and peered inside the hamper, "don't suppose there are any towels in there?" he asked before reaching in, plucking out a few grapes, and popping them into his mouth.

Rose unpacked the contents of the basket. No towels, but they were provided with a small blanket. They set up in a patch of sun kissed grass and hoped that their clothes would dry on their own.

She noticed John seemed to avoid the cold meats on offer, and instead concentrated on the fruits and vegetables. She had seen The Doctor eat meat, but he didn't seem to prefer it. Although in the time she was traveling with him, he really didn't eat much of anything.

John had selected an apple from the basket and was happily munching on it. He stopped mid-chew as she regarded him with a puzzled look, "what?" he prompted, "did I dribble on myself?" he glanced down.

She laughed, "no, I was just noticing you aren't eating the ham, are you a vegetarian?"

He thought about this for a bit, then shrugged, "not sure," he admitted, "guess that's something else I'll need to find out."

Rose shivered slightly as she bit into the sandwich she had assembled. John noticed this and slipped off his shirt to wrap it around her, "thanks," she laughed, "but this is still sopping too."

"Maybe we should head back to the house?" John asked.

Dipping into the basket once more Rose pulled out a bottle of wine, the cork already loosened and two glasses, "or.." she poured some for each of them, "we could have a bit of this and then create our own heat."

John took the glass and sniffed it before pulling a face, "oh no thanks," he set it down, "I don't want to give Pete any excuse to make me drink that 'miracle cure' again."

"You chugged whiskey last time," Rose laughed, "this is just a small bit of wine, I promise you it won't have the same effect." She raised her glass and held to her lips, but didn't drink it yet.

John made no move to pick his up, still eyeing the dark red liquid like it was going to leap out of the glass and attack him.

Rose's smile grew as she reached over and thrust the wine into his hand, "come on," she urged, "just taste it."

Reluctantly he took a taste, and found the wine to be fairly pleasant and quickly gulped down the rest.

"OK, we'll need to work on that a bit," Rose giggled, "I think you may need sipping lessons," she demonstrated by taking a small portion into her mouth before setting the glass down.


	20. Chapter 20

Ch 20

The sun and the wine, combined with seeing John half undressed in front of her combined to make Rose than just a little bit warm and the drying shirt she had wrapped around her was completely unneeded now. But she also knew that if she gave it back to him, John would slip in back on and deprive her of the lovely sight of his bare chest.

Looking over the rim of her glass she tried to see if there was a nearby trysting place. Not that they were really out in the open but seeing how easily Derrick the butler had been able to sneak up on them earlier, she figured a more private venue would be better.

John hadn't touched the second glass of wine she had poured for him, apparently still fairly cautious around anything alcoholic. He instead seemed intent on pulling every grape off a bunch he had selected and was laying them out in front of him, smallest to largest.

"I don't suppose anyone's ever told you," Rose smiled, "never to play with your food?"

"Nope," he smiled back and continued until the stem of the bunch of grapes was completely empty. He rearranged a few of the small fruits, obviously deciding some were not in the correct order before sitting back to admire his handy work.

"Is this how it's going to be, every meal you're going to pick stuff apart or arrange it in some pattern before eating it?" she teased, "no wonder you're so skinny!"

At this John frowned slightly, "is this unacceptable? I just like to see what I'm eating before I do..."

Rose made a mental note to be a bit more clear about when she was only poking fun, she didn't want to come off as a nag like her mum could be. She reached out and put her hand on his knee, "it's OK, I don't mind, but promise me if we go to a posh restaurant you'll keep that to a minimum?"

He nodded in agreement and selected the smallest grape, turning it around in his hand before popping it into his mouth. He repeated this until he had eaten the last one, the whole time Rose found she couldn't take her eyes off of him. The careful way he examined the fruit, the manner in which his long fingers caressed the lucky grapes made her slightly envious of them. And made her wish she was on the receiving end of such tactile exploration.

It wasn't until he had finished the last grape that John noticed she was staring, "surely you've seen someone eat grapes before?" he asked.

"Well, yes," Rose agreed, "but never like that." Decision made she stood up and offered her hand to John, "I have something I want to show you," she wiggled her fingers invitingly.

Taking her hand John let himself be led.

Truth was, however, Rose didn't exactly know where they were going. She hadn't really been back to this part of the estate and didn't know what was around them. After a bit of wandering, she spied a small tool shed just off to one side of the edge of the garden.

John had been too busy taking in all they were passing to realise where they were heading. He finally saw what Rose was leading him towards, "are we going to do some gardening?" he asked clearly puzzled by their destination.

Rose laughed, "not exactly," she opened the door and peered inside. Clearly whatever had been stored in the shed was no longer there. Aside from dust and some abandoned spider webs it was empty.

She stepped inside but John didn't join her, he walked around the outside of the shed, peered in at Rose and did another circuit before stopping in the doorway.

"What?" she prompted.

"This isn't bigger on the inside," he announced gravely, "in fact it's..." he started to say but was cut off by Rose pulling him in by his belt, and planting a kiss on his lips as she reached behind him and pushed the door to the shed shut.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, as her eyes adapted to the dim light of the shed, she noticed a small bench built into it along the back. Maybe it had been meant for shelving but she figured it would work for her purposes. Putting her hands on John's narrow waist gently moved him along until the backs of his knees hit the bench and he sat down with a surprised grunt.

As soon as he was in position she climbed up on his lap and wrapped herself around him with a delighted chuckle.

Her fingers reached for his belt and even in her worked up state it finally dawned on her that the clothing he was now only half wearing, was not at all familiar. She looked at the shirt draped around her shoulders, then at his jeans, "where did you get those?" she asked.

"Pete got them for me," John replied wondering why all of a sudden the origin of his clothing was important.

Finally getting the belt unclasped and pulling it out of the jeans she grinned wickedly, "better not just tear them off of you then," she mock growled before opening the trousers and sliding her hand inside.


	21. Chapter 21

Ch 21

Pete had taken a mid-day break and was going to see about getting John to come back with him to Torchwood, just for a physical exam, nothing sinister. He just was curious how this new life's biology played out. Which bits would be human, which would be Time Lord and how they all fit together.

Derrick didn't meet his eyes when he asked where Rose had gotten too, which was strange and indicated that she had gone outside. A bit more questioning of the discomfited man got more specifics and Pete made his way towards the Koi pond.

A quick survey of the area turned up an abandoned picnic and nothing else. Pete was about to make his way back to the house when he heard noises in a disused gardening shed and started to head towards it.

But the sounds soon grew very intimate in nature and he stopped in his tracks, colouring slightly before turning on heel and swiftly leaving the lovers alone.

Rose had enjoyed relations with boyfriends in the past, but had never felt permanently in heat as she did around John. This thought bounced around her head as her fingers made quick work of freeing him from his jeans and she bent to taste him.

Maybe, she reasoned, as she swallowed him deep in her throat, it's because he looks so much like The Doctor and many a night aboard the TARDIS as she tossed on her solitary bed she had fantasised about making love to the Time Lord?

All rational thought flew from her head as she stood up, slipped out of her still wet trousers and pants and kneeling above the object of her desire, slowly lowered herself onto him. As she did so he thrust up into her, and cupped her breasts in his not-quite warm hands, and she smiled down at him, "let me do this," she gasped willing him to be still.

He closed his eyes by way of agreement and let her take the lead for a while. Knowing how difficult it was for him to remain unmoving made Rose's excitement grow. Maybe she grinned inwardly the real appeal was having such a hot man under her control, he was hers to mould and shape, she had the ability to make him into the lover she always wanted, and he would fulfil her every whim or desire.

Taking the slow and steady path, rising and impaling herself again on his impressive length Rose road him like a prize pony, a wild look in her eyes in sharp contrast to his tightly closed ones.

Finally, when his own body's needs overwhelmed him John couldn't stay still any longer, his hands gripped Rose's hips, guiding her movements, pulling her forward to take her mouth in a passionate kiss.

The minute she tightened convulsively around him and dug her nails into his shoulders all control was lost. Shifting them both to her lying on her back on the narrow bench and him on top John thrust into her, almost pushing her breath out of her lungs with each rush in, until she climaxed once again, screaming his name as he shook with release into her welcoming embrace.

Not bothering to get dressed straight away, Rose led them both back to the Koi pond and jumping in rinsed the sweat of their lovemaking away from her skin, first by herself, then when John joined her he took handfuls of the cool water and washed her back.

Drying themselves as best as they could with the picnic blanket, they dressed and gathered up the remnants of their lunch before heading back to the house.


	22. Chapter 22

Ch 22

At dinner, Pete seemed distracted. Rose would catch him stealing glances at her, but when she met his eye he quickly looked away. As dessert was being served, one of Rose's favourites mint ice cream with chocolate chunks, Pete cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"As you know, our household has been graced with the addition of a fine young man recently," he announced as if he were addressing a company board meeting instead his family, "and we've welcomed him with open arms."

John looked at Rose with a puzzled expression on his face and then back at Pete with a frown.

Pete pressed on, "and we've accepted him as one of the family," he took a sip of water, "but the fact remains that since he is a completely new life form, one that until his creation has never existed we owe it to not only our household, but to the whole of Earth to be sure he is safe."

Rose started to protest, her face as red as her mum's lipstick, but John held up his hands silencing her, "I think it's a good idea," he said, "I would feel better knowing that I'm no danger to you or anyone else."

Jackie looked up from her ice cream, with a visibly relieved expression on her face. It was painfully obvious that Pete had warned her he would approach this subject again and she was expecting another knock down fight over it. She smiled at John gratefully, "nice to see there is at least one reasonable person, or part person?" she corrected herself, "around here."

Rose clearly was not ready to let the matter drop, "you take him to Torchwood and start a file on him, you could be putting him in danger!"

Pete shook his head, "I will keep any findings, any test results off the grid," he assured his stepdaughter, "this is for your own good sweetheart," then as almost an after thought he smiled thinly at John, "and for yours."

Suddenly the ice cream in front of her held no appeal and Rose shoved the dish aside, "if you do anything to harm him," she hissed, pushing herself away from the table, and standing up hands clenched into fists, "you'll regret it."

John made to get up and follow her but Pete gestured for him to stay put, "you need to learn to let the ladies cool off for a bit before you go running after 'em," he advised scooping up a big helping of the dessert, "save you a lot of trouble if you do that," he winked at John.

Despite his every instinct to the contrary, John didn't go looking for Rose after dinner was over. Instead he retreated to his room, not bothering to turn on the lights he opened a window and stared out into the rapidly darkening night.

He saw the stars twinkling into view and wondered where the TARDIS was right now. Was she just hanging out in the Vortex or had she taken The Doctor to a new world, a place where no Time Lord had even set foot upon?

He recalled the thrill of exploration, that tingling moment when meeting a new race, wondering if they would be friendly or...

He shook his head, that wasn't his life, he admonished himself. Those were second hand memories, a picture book of someone else's existence, not his. This, he looked around the room, was it. This room, this house, the woman he loved and her family, that was his life.

And, he tried to convince himself, it was better than always being alone.

Making his way over to the huge four poster bed he kicked off his shoes and stretched out on top of the covers.


	23. Chapter 23

Ch 23

He was surprised to find that he had dozed off. he woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and something frying and opened his eyes. Rose had not joined him in his sleep, he noted with disappointment.

Taking time to freshen up and to change his shirt which still smelt a bit of Koi with a hint of Rose's perfume, he made his way downstairs.

Jackie was already sitting at the table, her hair covered by a scarf, reading one of the tabloids she was so fond of. She held what appeared to be the first cigarette of the day in one hand and a strong cup of tea in the other.

She looked up at John as he entered the room, "Little Miss," she gestured up at the ceiling, "is still in one of her snits."

Seeing the worried look on his face she took pity on him, "she's not mad at you silly," she patted him lightly on the arm, "it's Pete on her black list. She'll come 'round and see it's for the best."

Then as if he didn't exist she went back to her tea and her paper, completely ignoring him.

Pete joined them next, he ploughed through his full fry up and several cups of tea before announcing it was time for them to get going.

John had only managed a half cup of tea, his stomach jumpy at the thought of Torchwood but he had promised Pete he would do this and he was a man of his word.

Or rather, he hoped he was.

The drive to Torchwood was strained. The limo was large enough to hold 6 people or 8 if they were all on friendly terms, but Pete insisted on sitting right next to John, "don't worry," he used his best fatherly tone, "this is all going to be routine stuff. Some blood work, checking to make sure your systems are all working, things like that."

Then he paused, "sorry, keep forgetting this is all a bit new to you," he grinned apologetically.

They rode in silence for a while, then a though struck Pete, "do you two, I mean The Doctor and you, share thoughts? I mean I know you have all his stuff crammed in here," he tapped John lightly on the forehead, "but does it get updated? If he went somewhere now would you pick up on it or vice/versa?"

John considered this for a moment then shrugged, "I don't really know," he admitted, "I haven't really thought about it."

Pete leaned in a bit closer, with a naughty expression on his face, "I wonder if he knows, or can feel it when you and Rose..." he winked knowingly.

John looked at him a bit confused, not exactly sure what Pete was getting at. This made the other man chuckle, "you know when you..." he made a gesture that got his point across.

"I hope not," John swallowed hard and turned so he could get a bit of distance from Pete's highly amused eyes and looked out the window.

Pete didn't speak again until Torchwood Towers came looming into view. He reached into his briefcase and handed John a pass card, "clip that on your collar," he instructed, "it'll get you past security."

John read it as he put it on, "John Smith, consultant, Alien Affairs," is what the card said.

"It's not exactly a lie," Pete laughed, "you're an alien and you're having an affair with my stepdaughter," he opened the car door and gestured for John to join him, "let me show you around!" he spread his arms wide as if to embrace the imposing building.

Once inside Pete led John to what looked like a medical office's examination room. They were quickly joined by another man, "John, his is Rob, he is my right hand man and I trust him with my life," he introduced the stranger, "and now I trust him with yours."

He walked to the doorway and Rob followed him, John could hear the two men chatting, and wondered if it would be bad form to pry the window open and make a break for it. But before he could give that much more thought Pete glanced back at him, "don't worry all of this will be strictly confidential. You're in good hands."

At that Pete left the room and John felt the intense gaze of Rob now focused on him.


	24. Chapter 24

Ch 24

Rose had been so upset by Pete's insistence on taking John to Torchwood and the meta-crisis' meek agreement to this hair brained plan that she had swiped two of her mother's sleeping tablets and downed them with a glass of brandy in the pursuit of sleep.

By the time everything wore off it was almost noon, she discovered with dismay as she threw on some clothes and ran downstairs.

Jackie was out walking the small Yorkie that shared Rose's name while a mobile phone was cradled on one shoulder and her ever present cigarette held in her other hand. Rose trotted over to her, "where's John?" she demanded. Jackie gestured towards the phone with a scowl on her face.

Rose snatched the phone and pressed the disconnect button, tossing the phone to the ground at the same time, "where's John?" she repeated.

"Your father took him to work today," Jackie explained as she retrieved the discarded phone, "if you hadn't been in a pout earlier, you could have seen him off!"

"I wasn't..." Rose started to protest, then she realised the wisdom of her mother's words, "and he's not my father!" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran back towards the house.

John didn't mind the jabs or the blood tests, and the x-rays were OK as well, even if the room was freezing and he was only clad in a standard issue hospital gown.

The MRI, however was driving him mad.

The confined space, while a bit disconcerting, wasn't really the issue. It was the noise the machine made as it banged and whined while scanning him. They had given him earplugs but his keen hearing, part of his Time Lord heritage, made the sound levels almost unbearable.

Just when he could picture his eardrums rupturing and blood spurting out from his head like a sprinkler the bed slid out and the machine went quiet.

Rob loosened the straps that were used to hold him in place while the machine did its work and helped him off the table.

"We're all done," he smiled warmly, even though something unsettling was glittering just behind his eyes making John feel like a moth about to be speared to a bit of cork board, "you can get dressed and I'll call Pete to come get you."

He had just finished tying his shoes when Pete's smiling face reappeared. Rob immediately took his boss aside and in very low tones babbled on excitedly about his discoveries.

John noticed the alarmingly thick file folder containing his medical information had been left on the counter and checking that no one was watching picked it up and started to read.

When the other two turned back around Rob saw what was going on and scowled, "you shouldn't be reading that," he held his hand out expecting John to hand it over obediently.

But he didn't. So then Rob made to grab it out of his recent patient's grasp, but the other man moved it away quickly.

Pete's mouth quirked up in a grin as the much shorter Rob tried to jump up and snatch the file folder while John calmly stood up, holding it just out of his reach and continued reading.

When he was finished he lowered it just enough so by getting up on his tiptoes Rob could reach the folder. The man was red faced and huffing as he finally got the folder away from John, who by contrast was completely still and quiet.

He looked at Pete then at the door, and back at Rob, "so..." he breathed out, "now what?"


	25. Chapter 25

Ch 25

Rob spoke up, the glitter in his eyes turned up to almost a maniacal gleam, "you are a very unique creature," he moistened his lips with his tongue, "we have, of course, heard of the legend of Time Lords, but of course never had one in for examination. You are a fascinating blend of that exotic breed with just a dash of humanity thrown it. Pete said you were told you were a human with a Time Lord brain, but you are more than that..." he swallowed dryly before wetting his lips once more, "you have little quirks in your biology, things that are definitely not human and one could spend a life time studying you."

John backed away, not taking his eyes from the clearly overexcited man, "I don't relish being a lab rat," he shook his head.

"No, of course not," Rob tried to reassure him but he wasn't very convincing, "normally under these circumstances we'd keep you here until we could finish our exploration..." he glanced meaningfully at Pete, "but under the circumstances, if you could be so kind to agree to come in for periodic check ups instead..." he offered hopefully.

John reckoned he'd rather eat broken glass or tongue kiss The Master first, but as this overheated scrap of a man was between him and the doorway he just settled for a non-committal "we'll see."

Pete couldn't see the mad twinkle in his employee's eyes, so he didn't quite understand what had John so discomfited, "well," he clapped a fatherly hand on John's shoulder, "I think lunch and a ride home for you are in order."

Rob looked crestfallen, clearly wishing he could keep John, study him, perhaps even dissect this unique specimen, but he stepped out of the way and let him pass. He had almost allowed himself to believe he would be able to keep and pour over the findings when Pete stepped back into the room and held his hand out, "I'll take that as well," he snapped his fingers as Rob reluctantly handed over the folder.

Pete insisted on eating in the employee cafeteria everyday to "mingle with the little people" as Jackie would say. He felt it helped him seem more accessible and more of them than the head of Torchwood. It made it easier for his employees to approach him with concerns or report irregularities and most importantly it kept him from getting too big headed.

He smiled as several women and a few men spun around to watch the two of them enter the room. He knew that the admiring glances were not aimed at him, he held no illusion that he was anything more than average. It was rather the tall trim man at his side who was garnering these looks.

And the best part was that John was completely unaware of this going on. He was instead still apparently deep in thought about the test results.

Waiting until they both had a tray of the regulation lunch, today being fish and chips with a side of mushy peas and had found a quiet corner Pete spoke up, "you have questions," he prompted.

John left off picking at his food, "I do, but I'm not sure you can answer them."

Pete nodded at that and took a bite of the fish, "I used to get fish and chips wrapped in a newspaper when I was a lad," he sighed, "they don't taste the same like this."

Not exactly sure what he was meant to say at that John stayed silent.

Pete was about to attempt another try at conversation when Rose burst into the cafeteria, she swooped down on John, practically yanking him to his feet and tried to drag him out the door.

"Hello, love," Pete smiled up at her.

"I'm taking him home," Rose scowled at her stepfather.

"He hasn't finished his lunch!" Pete argued gesturing at the mostly untouched tray.

"I'm not really hungry anyway," John offered as Rose tugged at his hand.

"Better learn to stand up to her," Pete picked up a chip and popped it in his mouth, "or she'll turn into Jackie junior," he advised as Rose practically dragged John out of the room.


	26. Chapter 26

Ch 26

Rose didn't stop her quick pace, pulling John along like some reluctant poodle or a rebellious toddler until they had reached her car. She opened the passenger door and for an awkward moment John wondered if she was going to stuff him in, and visualised her using a plunger to help her with this task. Shuddering at the picture of a Dalek filled his head he stood in the open doorway.

"Get in!" she barked at him, as she strapped her seat belt around her.

John made no move to follow her orders and she wondered if he had heard her. Reaching over she yanked on his trouser leg, "get in!" she repeated as he bent down to meet her eyes.

"No," he stated simply.

She took longer to process this than such a brief answer would normally require, mostly because she was shocked by his refusal to obey her. She had gotten used to his seemingly pliant nature and now this asserting himself took her by surprise.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I said, 'no," he didn't drop his gaze, instead met her frown unwavering.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" she glared at him.

"I think that is a pretty straight forward word, it doesn't require a lot of explanation," he smiled wryly and shut the door, turning to walk away from the car.

Rose was out of the driver's door in a shot, and ran to catch up to him, "what do you think you're doing?" she demanded, hands on hips.

At first she thought he was going to ignore her, his long legged stride not faltering as he continued to walk away from the car. Then just as suddenly as he had taken off he stopped, he looked at her his dark eyes filled with the same spark of danger she had seen in The Doctor when he was angry about something.

He opened his mouth but she cut him off, "I know I've been behaving like a spoilt child, but when I found out Pete was going ahead with this I got scared, and I know that doesn't excuse my treatment of you..." she bit her lip and tried to gauge the effect it was having on him, "and I am sorry."

Contrary to her hopes John was unmoving, his eyes still danced with barely contained anger, "you don't know what they," she gestured at Torchwood, "have done to some of the beings that have walked through those doors voluntarily under the guise of 'checking them out' and I was worried that you would be harmed, and if something happened to you I don't know what I'd do!"

As her eyes filled up a bit she could hear John take in a shaky breath, and then she felt his long arms wrap around her and pull her into his warm embrace, "I'm fine," his voice rumbled in her ear as she pressed it to his chest. He held her tighter for a moment then relaxed his hold, "let's go home."

Taking a moment to compose herself, hastily wiping away the tears that had spilled over she slipped her hand in his, "I promise to not try to order you around again," she crossed her heart with her free hand.

He snorted, "I won't hold you to that."

She pretended to be offended at his comment but the edges of her mouth quirked up despite her best efforts, "you just watch me," she finally laughed.

As they approached the car again, Rose had an idea, she fished in her purse and tossed the keys at John, "you drive!" she laughed climbing into the passenger seat. John looked surprised for a moment shooting the keys a look as if he expected them to bite him, then he shrugged and slid in behind the wheel.

Rose waited until he was settled before asking, "you do know how to drive don't you?"

"If I can fly the TARDIS," John fitted the key in the ignition, and turned it and the car roared into life, "I can certainly pilot something as simple as this," he put the car in gear and checking the mirrors pulled into traffic.


	27. Chapter 27

Ch 27

As they pulled into the drive of Pete's estate Rose finally let up on the door handle. She should have known, she chided herself as she tried to get her heart back into a more normal rhyme that when John had said 'pilot' he would treat her little coupé more like an aircraft than an auto mobile.

She had never had it up to those speeds and certainly never managed to get it to corner on only one set of wheels and up until now she didn't even know it would go that fast.

Luckily, she opened the door and put her feet out, grateful for the still ground she was now resting on, they hadn't encountered any police on their trip back, not that they would have been able to catch them.

John jumped out of the car as soon as he parked it, handing the keys to Rose before giving the car an affectionate pat, "that was fun!" he declared with a wide smile, "not nearly as challenging as steering around a black hole or a supernova but it was definitely enjoyable!"

"Next time," Rose took a deep breath, before continuing, "we'll work on obeying the traffic laws. There are such things as speed limits."

"Were there?" John looked down the drive towards the road, "I didn't see any signs."

"I don't doubt that," she smoothed her hair down, sure it was still sticking straight up from fright, "at the rate we were going you wouldn't see a ruddy great whale if it was hitching a ride."

John looked back at her, "do whales typically do that?" he asked perplexed.

Rose was about to explain the concept of sarcasm to John when Jackie came stomping down the drive, "there you are!" she poked a finger at Rose, "I thought we were going shopping today? You promised me you'd go with me to the sales!"

"I'm sure they're not all sold out this early, if you want we can..." Rose started, then turning to ask John if he wanted to go, found he was no where to be seen. "Where'd he go?" she murmured to herself.

"Who cares?" Jackie bellowed, "sales, now!" and yanking the car door open she plopped herself down in the passenger seat arms folded.

John had, courtesy of his borrowed memories, images of swift hunting and dangerous creatures. The Cryust, and their unfortunate habit of devouring their foes whilst still alive came leaping to mind when he heard Jackie suggest, no demand, to go shopping. Obeying his, admittedly underdeveloped, sense of self preservation, he high-tailed it out of there before he could get dragged along.

Besides, he reasoned, he had a lot to think about. He smiled as he carefully removed the thick file folder from underneath this shirt. The warning, "do not remove, property of Torchwood," emblazoned on the cover, in bright red made him laugh once with derision. He had expected a security tag or at the very least to be scanned as he left the building so just waltzing out of there with the file containing his medical exam results was almost too easy.

Maybe Pete wanted him to take it?

After all when they sat down at the table and Pete dove into his food he set the folder down and never once looked for it. He had thought at the time that the other man was just being careless, but Pete was not to be underestimated. Rethinking it now, it seemed blindingly obvious he was set up to take it, perhaps for his own safety.

Either way, he had a lot of questions and the quick skim of the results while the wound-up little man bounced around him like a terrier on energy drinks hadn't even begun to answer them.

He looked up at the house, trying to convince himself a quiet read in the bedroom he had been assigned would be the best place to study the contents of the folder. But as it loomed over him he decided, instead, that the quiet garden he had fled to in his previous attack of terror and panic would be a better spot. More isolated, and less likely to be interrupted.

Unless of course, he grinned remembering the Koi pond and the activities that led to before, Rose decided to join him.


	28. Chapter 28

Ch 28

John had just closed the folder when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He could tell by the way they sounded it was sadly not Rose coming to repeat their last encounter.

Instead it was Pete. He made no attempt to hide the folder as the other man approached. And Pete, for his side, didn't seem to be surprised to see it, "interesting reading?" he asked casually, taking a seat next to John.

"From a strictly clinical approach, yes," John nodded slowly, tapping the closed folder once, "but it doesn't satisfy much otherwise."

"What else do you want to know?" Pete smiled softly.

"Let's start with the simple stuff," John opened the folder again, "life expectancy? I mean I'm assuming that since I was born an adult I won't exactly get a full life."

Pete leaned back hands on his knees, "the problem with that question is you are the first of your kind. So there is no definitive answer on that. Time Lords have, from what we've been able to gather, extended life spans possible within each regeneration. One body can last them a hundred years or more, but there's that human element to figure in, and well," he shook his head, "we don't live as long."

Taking a deep breath Pete continued, "and I know The Doctor said you're a human with a Time Lord brain, but he wasn't exactly correct. You are not strictly human, you have those extra ribs, for example."

Pete could tell his words were doing nothing to help John feel less in the dark about himself. He wished he had the answers to his questions, but nothing contained in the file folder did more than just add to it.

Rising he started to leave, "you can keep that, just stash it someplace safe," he pointed at the folder, "I trust most of my employees with my life, but yours might be a different matter."

He got a few steps away and turned back around, "oh, one more thing, I hope you and Rose have been playing safely," he curled his fingers into quotes, "I can't say for sure, but based on the tests it looks like you could get her up the duff."

John frowned, confused at what it was Pete was trying to tell him.

"I think, if you haven't been already," Pete clarified, "you should wrap it going forward." Seeing that his second attempt to explain had not been any more successful Pete went for broke, "if you don't take precautions, you could make me a grandfather."

Finally catching on John first smiled with relief at getting what Pete had been trying to tell him, then as the realisation set in, his smile dropped and he went a bit pale.

By the time Rose got home, dishevelled, dripping with sweat and carrying bags upon bags, while Jackie held nothing but her cigarette and her mobile phone, John was waiting for her anxiously.

He waited until she dumped the packages on the floor with a thud and Derrick brought her a cool drink before taking her aside. She listened with a frown as he spilled out his concerns in a rush of words that flew by her head and ninety miles an hour. When he paused for a breath and her brain had caught up she started laughing.

He had been leaning in, his hands on her shoulder, his face a mask of concern and worry so her laughter set him back a bit, "what's so funny?" he asked after an awkward pause.

"First of all," Rose patted his cheek, "you are so sweet. I love the bit when you offered to 'do the right thing' and believe me I plan on taking you up on the offer, no matter what."

She slipped her hand in his, "and secondly, I'm a modern woman, and that area is already under control," she slipped other hand into her purse and pulled out a small plastic container, "so unless you have super sperm, we're covered."

At this news he was a mix of emotions, the strongest was relief, but to his surprise there was also a bit of disappointment thrown in. Before he could spend too much time analysing that, Rose got up on her tip toes to give him a peck on the cheek, "now I need to get out of these shoes, into a warm bath and I could use some help scrubbing my back, you up to the task?" she grinned wickedly.

Nodding briskly John's grin matched Rose's as she led him up the stairs.


	29. Chapter 29

Ch 29

Rose sighed as John lovingly ran the loofah over every square inch of her body. She had her eyes closed but she could feel those beautiful dark eyes caressing her naked flesh as much as she could feel the sponge working its way around her.

He hadn't taken the hint to climb into the tub with her, rather he had knelt beside it and went to work on her while still fully clothed. She didn't think she'd find that as erotic as she did, but there was something highly arousing about it.

She had enjoyed physical relationships with past boyfriends, but the urges were never as strong as they were around John. She wondered if, like Captain Jack, he had some sort of hyped up pheromones.

Or maybe it was just the man himself.

Sitting up she opened her eyes, "it's awfully lonely in here," she smiled seductively.

John looked at the tub, obviously calculating the space inside, "won't that be a bit crowded?" he asked with a frown.

"Not if we get in really, really close," she whispered in his ear before taking a bit of the lobe into her teeth and giving it a bit of a nip.

He may have been a bit slow to catch on, but once he did he made quick work of removing his clothing and sliding in behind Rose he wrapped his long legs around her and his hands stroked her like he had done with the loofah earlier.

Her skin danced as his long fingers worshipped her body and it was hard for her to stay passive and not rush him towards what she wanted or as much as she hated to admit it, needed.

Moments later, either heeding her siren call of lust or due to his own rising excitement he lifted her gently from the floor of the tub and onto his lap. Cupping her breasts with his soapy warm hands he let her decide when to move things along.

Pushing herself up on her knees she scooted back, taking him in her hands, she angled them both to just the right position and sunk down on his throbbing hardness, with a barely audible moan.

She had never tried this position before, none of her past lovers were very adventurous, but facing away allowed John's clever hands to take her to even higher peaks of excitement as she lifted and lowered herself onto him with increasing speed.

John's mouth was not still either, he kissed a hot trail from her shoulders to her ear, and then using just the tips of his teeth nipped at the delicate and sensitive at the base of her neck.

In Rose's lust fuelled mind she almost wished he would bite harder, marking her as his for all the world to see, but she was incapable of words in the heat of her passion. She settled for reaching behind her and grabbed fistfuls of his hair, yanking and pulling as she rode him.

When she finally tightened convulsively around him she pulled on his hair so far she could feel some of coming off in her hands, part of her regretted this happening but the less rational part wouldn't let go of him at any cost.

She could feel him wince as the strands were yanked from his head, but his seeking mouth and gently stroking fingers didn't let up, even as he took over for her and thrust into her at last.

Once she had regained her breath she moved to face him. He had half laid down in the water, his knees still on either side of her. She smiled down at him until she saw the thin trail of blood behind him.

"Are you OK?" she reached a shaky hand out to touch the back of his head.

"I think so," he replied a bit breathlessly, eyes still closed, "good thing I have a lot of it," he gestured vaguely at his hair.

"Sorry, got a bit carried away," she started to apologise, but without opening his eyes his finger landed on her mouth, shushing her.

"I actually kind of liked it," he admitted with a half grin on his face.

Moving to lying partially on top of him, to snuggle in the tight confines of the tub Rose sighed contently, "I hope you never cease to surprise me," she kissed his chest.

"Will do my best," John laughed, pulling her in tight.


	30. Chapter 30

Ch 30

John was the first to break their cosy little scene, kissing Rose once on the forehead he extracted himself from her embrace and slipped out of the tub.

"If you don't mind," Rose smiled up at him, her eyes only half open, "I'm going to stay in a bit longer," using her toes she turned the hot water tab on and warmed up the water.

John gathered his clothes and took them into Rose's bedroom to slip them back on again. He had just finished tying his shoes when he heard a distant sound of someone screaming his name. It was so faint it seemed almost a figment of his imagination. But just as he started to dismiss it, he heard it again.

A quick check on Rose revealed that she was fine so he bolted out of her room and down the stairs.

The house was eerily quiet. It was not a hive of activity on most days but aside from himself and Rose soaking in a tub two floors up, there seemed to be no one else around.

Who had screamed?

He went to the back door, opening it, straining to listen for that scream once more. Due to the faintness of the sound he wasn't sure the gender of the person doing the screaming, let alone what direction it had come from.

Hoping his keen hearing had picked up some far away neighbour's television he started to shut the door again. As he did he heard something from behind him, but before he could turn around to see what it was it felt like his head exploded and his world went dark.

"Wake up you useless excuse for a man!" were the first words that greeted John as he swum up to consciousness, along with the realisation that someone had been kicking him. From the soreness of his leg, whoever it was had been at it for a while.

He recognised the voice, Jackie's, but as his eyes fluttered open he was clueless as to where they were.

Jackie was in a cell next to his and had sat on the cot that jutted up against the one he was laying on, had managed to manoeuvre her leg through the bars and was pulling back to give him another kick when he sat up.

"You're awake!" she announced as if he wouldn't be able to figure that out on his own.

"Mostly," he rubbed the sore spot on his head, not sure if it was from Rose's enthusiasm or the blow he received before waking up...wherever he was.

Looking over at Jackie, he had to bite back a smile. She looked like a mad hen, her usually carefully styled hair was sticking up at all angles and her make-up streaked down her face giving her an almost comical look. Her scowl, however, was nothing to be amused by. She was now on her feet pacing like a caged panther.

"When Pete hears of this!" she screamed up at the ceiling, "you will be lucky to escape with your pitiful excuse of a life!"

"Who are you talking to?" John asked, wondering why he wasn't more worried about their current situation.

"That little toad of a man who kidnapped us!" Jackie continued her rant, "I stepped outside for a quick smoke and he grabbed me. Told me to scream for you or he'd slit my throat!"

"Which toad would that be?" John sighed, as her screeching voice seem to bounce around his throbbing skull.

"That 'toad' would be me," a male voice offered from nearby, "welcome to Toad Hall."


	31. Chapter 31

Ch 31

Standing up to face this new arrival John stared down into the glittering mad eyes of Rob, the supposedly trustworthy 'right hand man' Pete had entrusted him to before.

"I don't think this is going to sit well with your boss," John advised him.

"He's not following protocol," Rob smiled, a smile that didn't quite reach the rest of his face. It reminded John more of a snarl than the reassuring gesture it was obviously meant to be, "I am just doing what I was sworn to do; protect the world from alien hordes."

"I'm hardly a horde," John laughed.

"And he's only half alien!" Jackie snapped, "but you're going to be more than half sorry when Pete gets a hold of you."

"Actually," Rob slid in closer to John, "I don't want her, I just used her to reel you in."

This seemed to greatly offend Jackie who tried to reach through the bars and slap the small man but he was just out of reach.

"I can give her a small dose of retcon and send her on her merry way, or I could shut her up permanently and save us all from future encounters," he grinned making a slitting motion across his neck.

"As tempting as the latter is," John grimaced, "the former would work for me. What is it you want in return?"

"Your cooperation," Rob leaned in further, "I wasn't allowed to analyse the data I gathered on you before," he licked his lips, "and I would love the opportunity to really get a better look at you."

"And if I don't?"

"She dies."

"As you said earlier, you'd be doing me a favour," John laughed humourlessly; "you'll have to do better than that."

Jackie was within range to spit at John, hitting him on the cheek. He didn't acknowledge this more than to wipe it away dismissively.

"All right," Rob hummed thoughtfully, "if you do not cooperate I will hunt down Rose, and kill her and the baby she is carrying."

"Baby?" both Jackie and John sputtered.

"Got your attention now, don't I?" Rob gloated, "I take it she doesn't know yet…or hasn't told you."

He breathed in their shock like the most decadent of perfumes, their dismay smelling sweeter than nectar. Knowing he had played the trump card he just waited until the realisation sunk in.

"Now, then," he continued after a bit of a pause, "if you are a good boy and let me do what I want, and I find no reason to label you a danger, you will be released relatively unharmed when I am through."

Confident that he had won Rob reached into the cage to shake John's hand.

What happened next drove home to Jackie that, even though this man looked like The Doctor, he definitely was not. The Doctor would have talked himself blue in the face, using his considerable charm and wit to dazzle Rob into a dazed state of compliance.

John didn't bother with niceties.

As soon as Rob got in close enough he leapt forward. One arm shot out and grabbed the startled man by the back of his neck as if he were going to pull him in for a kiss. Before Rob could process what was going on John banged his head on the metal bars of the cage, twice. Then still holding on to the now unconscious man, he used his free hand to search his pockets. When he found what he was looking for, a ring of keys and what looked like a white credit card, he let the bleeding man drop to the floor.

Opening his own cell first, John tossed the keys to Jackie, "call Pete," he reached down and fished out Rob's mobile phone from his suit pocket, "and tell him what just happened."

"Where are you going?" Jackie yelled after him as he took off.

"If he was acting alone," John called over his shoulder, "I'm just going for a jog."

"If he wasn't?"

"Hopefully leading them away from you!"


	32. Chapter 32

**Conclusion**

Luckily Jackie got through to her husband before Rob could regain consciousness. He had, of course, acted alone. Too greedy to discover everything about this new fascinating creature and keep that knowledge for himself.

When Pete descended on Torchwood with the fury of a thousand demons; Rob was thrown into the very cell he had locked Jackie in as they searched the area for John. Rose had insisted on coming along even though he begged her to stay at the house.

She was the one who found him. She almost instinctively knew he would be in a place with a good vantage point and located him up on the roof sitting on the ledge looking down at the grounds.

He watched her approach with his large dark eyes glistening in the sun, "are you hurt?" she ran to him running her hands over his thin body, searching for any visible wounds.

He took her hands in his, "I'm fine," he whispered, his expression unreadable, "how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Me?" she stepped back with a laugh, "I was having a good soak while some maniac tried to dissect you!"

"He never got that far," John protested still gazing into her hazel eyes with a strange look on his face.

"Then what's wrong?" she asked, evidently puzzled by his strange behaviour.

Before he could answer Pete threw open the rooftop door, "congratulations!" he chortled and handed John a large cigar from the box he habitually kept on his desk.

Rose looked from her stepfather to her lover, confused, "someone want to tell me just what is going on?"

Jackie popped up behind Pete, and stomped over to Rose, "what are you doing up here in this wind? You'll catch your death! A woman in your condition has to be more careful!"

Rose's eyes grew very wide, and she cupped her hands over her stomach, "a woman in my condition?" she repeated slowly, "you don't mean?"

"Super sperm," John grinned wryly, "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…"

"Are you sure?" she looked down at herself shakily.

Pete stepped up, "the bio-scanners that are at every entrance of this place," he gestured around himself, "scanned you and I've confirmed it. You're going to be a mum!"

John stood up, "you don't have to go through with this…"

He started to reassure her, but she cut him off with, "I hope he has your eyes," she spoke dreamily as she rubbed her still narrow waist.

"How do you know it'll be a boy?" John asked.

"A mother knows these things," Rose laughed nervously and taking one of his hands in hers pressed it to her stomach.

Pete waited a good measure before approaching the two awestruck lovers, "we have to keep that baby safe," he ventured, "and the best way for you to do that," he looked meaningfully at John, "is to come to work for me."

"You want me to work for Torchwood?" he frowned, "the very place that wanted to lock me up?"

"That's not the way I want it to be, help me make it into a better place!" Pete pleaded, "with your knowledge and my guidance we can turn this into a grand institution and hopefully enlighten, not entrap any future 'visitors'!"

"You have to get a job now!" Jackie's voice cut in, "you got a family to support!"

John looked from Rose's still softly smiling face to the eager one of Pete's and sighed, "OK, but I refuse to wear a tie."

Pete thrust out his hand, "welcome aboard," he grinned, "now about my grandson…"


End file.
